Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover
by SheMajinGamer
Summary: This takes place after season 2 episode 2 so there will be spoilers. I haven't written anything in a while so I'm kinda rusty. Nuke (Luke/Nick) don't like, don't read. The gang has been held hostage by Carver. But, where's Luke? Nick goes to look for Luke and finds a interesting side of him he never saw before. This might turn into M if I decide to make more chapters.


NOTE: This will give some spoilers from TWDG season 2. This story takes place after season 2 episode 2. This is a Nuke fanfic. If you don't like Nuke, then don't read.

Nick's POV

I woke up in a room that was small and painted black. I had trouble breathing since the air was so thin; to be honest I'm still surprised I made it this far without fainting. I tried to get myself up but I didn't have the strength to. There were ropes tied to my wrists and ankles, my skin was starting to burn from it. I turned my head to look around the room and saw Clem, Carlos, Kenny, Alvin, Rebecca, Sarah, and Sarita in the same hellish position I was. But… where's Luke? Wasn't he with us when Carver took us? Oh god… I really hope he's okay. I have to get out of these damn ropes and try to get the fuck out of this room. As soon as I tried to wiggle the ropes off my wrist, I felt my poor flesh burning with the sensation of the rope. The rug burn was hurting me like hell. I wasn't going to try to get the ropes from ankles off; that would have probably had the same effect of what happened to my wrists. I then started to hear some groaning. I felt an arm pushed against my leg starting to move, it was Clem's. I had some trouble seeing if it was actually her or not since the light of the room was so dim. I move my tied hands to Clem and tried to wake her up.

"Clem, wake up." I said moving my arms around her face, which turned more into slapping her. I had to wake her up somehow. I saw her eyes starting to twitch and then they opened.

"Nick?…" Clem said softly and very scratchy, she must be dehydrated. She put her tied hands up to her red cheek where I slapped her. It's best not to tell her that I got her to wake up by slapping her; what she doesn't know won't hurt me.

"What's going on? Where are we?"

"I'm not sure; I think Carver put us in here. My wrists and ankles are tied up, so are yours I think. I need you to untie my knots so I can get you and the rest of us free. Be careful when you untie the knots, one slip and it will turn your skin into oblivion. Trust me, I tried to do it myself and it hurt like hell." I said while turning hands to Clem. She barely reacted at all to what I said; she had a straight face while she was untying my knots. That's what I like about Clem, she always so easy going. It's unlike me though; even I can admit I have a bit of temper. It's probably only a matter of time I get my ass kicked out of the group. I sometimes wonder how Luke can be on the bright side all the time, especially at these times. It seems like if his whole family died, fifteen minutes later he would move on as if nothing happened. But I guess that sounds a little harsh. I wish I was like him, being on the bright side all the time. But I'm not that kind of guy. Clem got the ropes off my hands and wrists swiftly and then I did the same to her. The rest of the group looked mostly asleep, they looked more like they were half-awake and half-asleep.

"Clem, get the rest of the group awake and help them get their ropes off. I'm going to find a way outta here."

"Okay," Clem said with that same straight face. I turned away from Clem as she did as I said. I look around the walls to find a door or a window or something to get us out of this hell of a room. I couldn't see a damn thing since it was so dark, so I put my hands on the walls and move them around to feel a door knob or something. I didn't feel a door knob or a piece of glass that could have been a part of a window but I did feel a hole. It was key hole; I must have found a door. The key hole was pretty small, the door could easily be unlocked with pin or tooth pick. I looked behind me and saw everyone awake and untied. Heh, Clem works fast.

"What's going on? Where are we, Dad?" Sarah said very scared to Carlos. I remember that Carver fucked up Carlos's face and his fingers back at the ski lodge. I could still see some bruises on his face. But I noticed something different, his scars were sewed up. His fingers were also bandaged. I don't really remember much after Carver took us from the ski lodge. Did I miss something?

"It's okay, Sarah. We'll get out of here soon enough." Carlos said putting his arm around her. I could see Rebecca having trouble getting up. Alvin had finally notice that she ain't getting up without some help when he turned around. I actually thought for a second that she was going have her baby now by the way she looked. But that baby better stay in Rebecca's belly for few more hours because if it comes out now, we're fucked.

"You okay, Bec?" Alvin said as he helped Rebecca up. She took a few seconds to respond.

"Yeah… I'm fine." Rebecca said with a weak and scratchy voice, she must also be dehydrated. I whistled through my teeth to get the gang's attention, in which I received.

"Ok, I found a door behind me with a key hole that's very small. If I use a pin or tooth pick, I think I can unlock the-" I started to say until Kenny swung his arm at me. He hit me in the face, that fucking bastard.

"Step aside, I got this." Kenny said then charged at the door boldly. The door came shattering to pieces.

"Or that could work too…" I said feeling like a dumbass. So much for the key hole. The rest of group ran out of the room carelessly, not even thinking that there might be someone just right by them who will shoot their heads off. Well, I'm not hearing any gun shots at least. So I guess that's a good sign. I decided to come out with them, and for some reason we were alone. There was no one there, and being tied up in a dark, small, locked room really makes you think that there'd be someone blocking the door to be honest. We've never been to this place, the walls were painted blue and floor on our feet was carpeted. I looked out the window to clear view of where we are. We're right behind the ski lodge! We're at the bottom of the back of the hill. Which means Luke could still be up there. I'm pretty sure he's just sitting in the ski lodge like a lazyass eating peaches and beans, dammit that greedy bastard. I should go look for him though, I'm worried about him actually.

"We're right behind the ski lodge, we're at the bottom of the other side of the hill. I'm going to go look for Luke. Kenny, you said he just scurried off somewhere right?"

"Yeah, but-" Kenny started to say until I interrupted him.

"Then he couldn't have gone far, he knows better. I'm going to go look for him, you guys stay here and look for food or water or something to kill with. Carver may be somewhere near here. If you don't find any food I'll bring back some from the ski lodge." I said as walked out the door. Carlos tried to put his hand on my shoulder to stop me but I just kept walking.

"Nick, I don't that's a good-" I was already out the door to even hear what Carlos had said. I was too distracted, I can't stop thinking about Luke. Last time I talked to Luke was in the ski lodge with Clem and we were talking about Matthew. I'm a fucking idiot, I still feel like shit for pulling that trigger. I can't live to know that I just killed the best friend of someone who helped us so much. I practically killed someone's family, and I know what it's like to have families that are close to you.

The sun was setting when I reached up the mountain, it's harder that it looks to get up that hell of a mountain. The ski lodge looked the same as it was, there were no more walkers so that's good. I looked around the windmill to find Luke, it was where I found him last. No sight of him though, all that was there was a couple of dead walkers that we killed before. I decided to take a look at the bottom of the chair lift before going in to check the ski lodge. There was nothing really down there but there was something. There was something near that little cabin we pasted by earlier, it was moving. For a second I thought it was just a walker, it was hard to make out. But it did sort of look like Luke, when I started squinting at the thing I realized it actually was Luke. I could tell because it had light blue jeans and a wool shirt, that's what Luke was wearing. He sitting on the ground with his back laying on the door of the little cabin, he looked like he was in pain. I quickly ran down the mountain to help him, hopefully without tripping. Once I reached to the little cabin, I felt my heart stop. Luke had his machete stuck in his shoulder, blood was running down his wool shirt turning it red. When I first saw him like this I thought he was dead, but he didn't really look dead. His eyes were closed, he looked more like he was sleeping. I pressed my ear to his chest to hear his heartbeat. It took a few minutes to hear anything but then I heard a heartbeat. The heartbeat was slow, but he was alive. The machete in his shoulder wasn't going to do him or me any help. I guess I have to take it out. The machete was not very deep in his shoulder, I don't think it will do too much damage if I take it out, carefully at least. I took the machete out of his shoulder the slowest and most helpful way possible. I heard him scream a bit when I finally got the machete out. Yep, he was definitely alive. But he was still unconscious, I have to get him to the ski lodge to sew up his shoulder. If Clem can do it, so can I. I helped him up and put him on my shoulder, he was dead weight. He was so damn heavy, and night fall was coming soon. I dragged Luke roughly up the mountain and opened the door to the ski lodge then locked it for walkers. The ski lodge looked pretty much as it was before inside, not much difference. I laid Luke's sore body onto the couch near the fire place. He looked like he was freezing, but so am I. I started to get some fire going from the extra wood near the fire place to warm Luke and me up. I dragged Luke to fire place so he could get warm. I decided to check his heartbeat again to make sure I didn't kill him by pulling that machete out of his shoulder. His heartbeat got a bit faster, so that's good. I checked the cabinet in the kitchen for a first aid kit. I found some bandages, some thin string, and a needle that should be good enough for surgery. This ski lodge has been very good to me. I sat down next to Luke and started to remove his shirt. He was so tan and muscular, I didn't really know he was because he never took his shirt off. But of course, who would want to expose their skin to walkers where they could bite them and infect them? I sort of blushed at sight of his body, I tried to ignore it. If Luke was awake and he knew I was blushing like this, he would've hit me over the head with his machete. I put the string through the needle and tied a double knot. I wish I had some anesthesia for Luke, otherwise this is going to hurt like hell for him.

The next hour was the most hurtful thing I've ever experienced, not just for Luke but for me too. Having to hear Luke scream at the top of lungs crying out for help, put a crack in my heart. I don't want to see him like this, he looked so defenseless and in pain. I've done a few surgeries before, Pete thought me everything he knew about how to survive. I had a little trouble trying to hunt though. When I was kid, he thought me how to shoot with a rifle. While we were in the forest, he told me to shoot a duck that looked more like a baby one than an adult one. It was really cute just waddling through the forest. But it was defenseless, just like Luke is now. My hands were shaking, I rose my rifle up and faced it to the duck. I put my finger on the trigger and tried to pull it, but I couldn't. I told Pete that I couldn't do it, I couldn't kill it. What happened to that little kid? That little kid who just couldn't pull that trigger. How did that little kid turn into a hot tempered killer? I don't want to be like this, but seeing how things are I have to. The thought of it made me bring tears into my eyes, which I forcefully tried to hold back. Luke was asleep, when I performed the surgery on him he was definitely awake. Otherwise he wouldn't have screamed from so much pain. Then he went back to sleep, I checked his heartbeat one more time to see how fast it was after performing the surgery. His heartbeat was faster and he was sleeping peacefully now. I grabbed the bandages and wrapped them around Luke body, up at his shoulder and down at his chest. I sat next to him and took a load off. My back was killing me, I laid my back to the floor like Luke was. I didn't even care if the floor was cold and hard, I needed to stretch my back out. After a few minutes of resting, I sat up to check on Luke. He still looked the same as he was, he was breathing more at least. I started to hear him say something, he was still asleep so I suspect he was just sleep talking. It was hard to make out what he was saying because his voice was soft and quiet. But after a while of him sleep talking, he started crying! He was speaking louder now as if though in his mind he was yelling. What he said after he started crying, practically ripped my heart out my chest.

"It hurts…" Luke's voice was cracking from his crying, so it was still hard to hear what he saying.

"It hurts that people don't know the truth. People think I'm always on the bright side of things, like nothing could make me hurt as much as people are these days. Like I didn't even have any feelings. But they don't how much I'm hurt inside. My parents are dead, I have no one. What's the point of even living in this world anyway?" That last line made my heart stop.

"No one wants me, no needs me. So why was I even born?" The tears in my eyes started to come down to my cheek just like his tears did. How could he even think that no one needed him. Clem needs him. The group needs him. I need him. I petted his head softly and tried to calm him down. I never knew he felt this way, being so hurt inside.

'_It hurts that people don't know the truth.' _I guess I'm one of those blind, heartless people.

'_I have no one.' _I've heard those words before.

'_No one wants me, no needs me.' _I remember those words too, because…

'_So why was I even born?'_

I'm the one who said those words first.

I never thought I'd hear those words again from someone else. It sometimes seems like, and even at these hard times, everyone has someone. Whether it's your best friend, your family, or just somebody you know. It seems like there's someone always near you. I said those words in my mind when Pete died. I felt so alone and helpless. But somehow I got myself back up for the sake of the group. It's just nice though, to hear those words from someone who can relate to you. Someone who's had the same dark past as you. Luke eventually just fell into deep sleep and stopped sleep talking. I came up close to him and kissed his head. I noticed there were still some tears on his cheek, I wiped them off. His eyes were still red from crying. I laid my body next to him and I started to cuddle him. You can call me gay, I don't care. I just want to be close with someone. Someone who you can finally relate to. Someone who you care about. Someone who you love. I feel warm just knowing he's here with me. I looked up at Luke's face which was close to mine, and after that…

All I thought about in this world was him and me alone together.

I think I went a little downhill at the first half of this chapter, but I got myself back up at the second half I think. I'm not sure if I should continue this or not. I mostly did it because I figured some of the Nuke fans would like it. Let me know if I should continue this or not in the comments.


End file.
